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What happened to these Golf Brands?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ม.ค. 2022
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From my understanding Spalding's golf division went bankrupt in 2003, so they sold the Top Flite, Strata, and Ben Hogan names off to Callaway. Top Flite became exclusively package set clubs and were later sold off to Dick's Sporting Goods to become a store-exclusive brand much like Slazenger. Strata remains Callaway's package set name, now Callaway Strata. Ben Hogan was sold to Perry Ellis, which a group of investors came in to try and revive the equipment side of the brand. After the investment group filed for bankruptcy, the man put in charge of Ben Hogan's revival decided to go the direct-to-consumer route, which has up to this point succeeded. While Callaway no longer owns Ben Hogan, they retained the rights to use certain trademarks such as Apex and Edge from Ben Hogan, which you can see they both use today.
What happened to Adams still annoys me. I loved their clubs, especially their hybrids. In fact, i still use a set of their IDEA CMB irons to this day. Taylormade buying them, cannibalizing their tech and then effectively killing the brand off was a big loss for golf in my opinion.
Best brand to ever be killed off. I still hit a few of them now and theyre awesome. Especially the last few products they put out. XTD, Blue and their Protos still hold up with most new clubs.
Taylormade bought them out
I will never get rid of my 4 hybrid v4, by far the best club in my bag and I have newer equipment.
played golf for 20 years and never even heard about Adams, b4 today, so it can't possibly have been that bad :D
@@Reavix1 🤷🏻♂️ I find that hard to believe
When I first started playing, about 45 years ago, I used a half set of Swilken irons and had a 2 and 4 wood.
My first full set was also Swilken but kept using the old 2 and 4 woods
Some companies have decided to stick with just golf products, and put all of their money into R&D and marketing. Others decided to branch out into several sports and became “sporting goods companies”. Wilson is not only a generalist company, they even became famous for being a supporting actor in a successful film with Tom Hanks!
my thought as well.
Powerbuilt was my favorite back in the 80's
Yep had them for a while
I started playing around 1994. Brands I remember from those early days outside of the big names were Maxfli and Precept for golf balls, irons were Wilson, Slazenger, Northwestern, Tommy Armour. When it came to woods outside of some wanting the Lynx Boom Boom set, it was pretty much a Big Bertha or nothing back then. Or you'd get a Big Bertha knock off like I did.
Hippo "John Daly signature" full set: My first ever set of golf clubs. They were great. Gutted that Hippo don't really make golf equipment anymore.
For years, I've been thinking of this exact same topic. When I started, I played Spalding and then MacGregor. They faded away and along came Callaway and TaylorMade.
Power Bilt. Back in 70s and 80s. Beautiful woods and solid blade irons under Citation name
Wilson staff are definitely back in the game. Over the last 5 years, their gear has been mustard 👌
I’ve always said Wilson balls hold up way longer than others. Wilson will be just fine. They have the best golf ball for the money.
Couldn’t agree more. I feel like Rick is a bit off the mark on present day Wilson. The past 5-10 or so years they’ve done a good job on the reboot, and don’t really focus on the box set anymore.
They’re making a concerted effort to put out more quality. They’re forged blades, and CB’s are the real deal.
I think I actually read an article online where they did a deep dive on where it all went wrong
I've used TP5's, Pro V1's, Chromesofts etc but I've always been very impressed with Wilson Staff balls. For the price point they're punching well above their weight.
Had Wilson Staff's back in the day they were big time even with a sweet spot the size of a dime.
I bought my W/S FG62's in 2013, beautiful irons.
I'm currently playing a full bag of Lynx golf clubs. #BB driver and irons, Lynx black cat 3 wood, Lynx parallax 3 and 4 hybrid, Lynx predator wedges and a Lynx predator putter.
All absolutely fantastic clubs.
My first proper set was by Founders Club and I had a Yonex driver. Both still have a soft spot in my heart.
I still have a set of John Letters Parbusters from at least 20 years ago, that I got fitted for in Nevada Bobs, before they were bought out by American Golf. Still use them to this day, but that will hopefully change. Searched for a set on ebay and found some for £12 hahaha
Northwestern , Powerbilt , Maruman. Guy mentioned Ram and the tour grind was a beautiful iron , I still have my Spaulding tour edition irons that Greg Norman used . I have a set of tp9 too .
The only iron that would come close to preforming with the modern ball from that era is the Ping Eye 2 which is a timeless classic
Powerbilt was massive when I started in '89
My dad LOVED Wilson clubs, he played a set of Wilson fat shafts for years until he couldn't really play golf anymore due to back issues.
I still play an old set of Wilson FG 17 blades a couple times a year to remind myself (a) how little blades have changed and (b) that I'm a long way from being a good golfer ;)
Powerbilt. Absolutely loved them.
They hung on for a while with no pro sponsorship. Junk now days
The craziest clubs I ever owned were Gary Player Shakespeare Black Fiberglass irons. That's right - fiberglass shafts! The 9-iron went 150 yards high and 120 years long and left a dovot two inches deep. The 2-irons? The 2-irons went everywhere!
I've hit that ......someone had some and we took them out to the range, ....like a buggy whip, ahahaha
My first set were
MacGregor Chi Chi Rodriguez forged irons. There's a legendary golfer not many people speak of today...
My first set was MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Golden Bear irons and woods.
Dunlop - Ray Floyd was my first set. The woods had steel shafts, and little heads (compared to today). Could almost pick my spot on the fairway where I wanted the ball to land. Now I slice every wood I have had the last 28 years.
My first set of golf clubs were slazenger and I moved onto Spalding which I still use today. However I have upgraded my driver to Callaway legacy. Now looking at the new set of Callaway rogues which I’m trying out today
My grandmother was a cook in the cafeteria at the Wilson plant just outside Chicago in the 60's and she gave me a prepackaged set of Sam Snead junior, 1 & 3 wood, 3, 5, 7, 9 iron, putter and bag for my 10th birthday. Best gift ever.
Being Canadian the brand that stands out the most were Accuform, an incredible golf club, that had a couple of serious players on staff. DLIII comes to mind.
I still miss my Orlimar Trimetal fairway wood. Also a shout out to Makser, who made great drivers and fairway woods as well.
Haven't heard that name in a very long time!
We have that orlimar😊 in the family my nephew used to drive it a mile,my brother has it but I will get it back
My first package set were Pinseeker bought in two halves from my mums "club book". Then I had a couple of sets of RAMS, last ones being ZX before I went to Wilson Deep Red Maxx. Still playing those woods and have just grabbed a set of D7 irons, played them for the first time this weekend.
I still use a Pinseeker putter that I bought 36 years ago
My first set was Wilson. And tbh they were so good for even a beginner set. Bought a new set of callaway off eBay and I love them.
One brand which warrants a conversation is Sonartec. From being a low end company, an Open Championship winner using their hybrid, hugely popular, and then folding.
I started with a Dunlop DDH set, then McGegor Tourneys, Powerbilt Grand Slams, Hogan CFT irons, a Golden Bear set, Adams a2s then a7s. Playing Cobra now days, they better look out judging by my track record.
There was a Hippo, blue Mizuno Pro, Wilson Killer Whale, Machspeed SQ drivers in there as well. Quite a hall of shame.
The Dunlop 65 golf ball is one of my earliest memories of playing golf in the early 90s. Iconic!
Dunlop Warwick balls from the 70's 😳😳
I remember a few of these from the 90s. I was a ball picker for the range and had an assortment of lost clubs to try (some players never came back for them). They all fell by the wayside when I tried a more modern cavity back. Like it or not, it was a better feeling hit. Still love the look of older irons but know there is so much more with companies that continue to improve their design.
Wilson "Fat Shaft" was such a good design. There was never a more solid feel for the amateur than the Fat Shaft. One of my playing partners still uses his and absolutely loves them.
My first proper set were Wilson Deep Red Fat Shafts, they were mega, I always wondered why I changed them. Great clubs.
PXG didn't change anything in their irons except the pricing. I got the 0311 gen 3's when they dropped the price from $349 to $149/club. Awesome irons. The gen 4's went from $375 to $275/club, still pretty expensive.
John Letters putters - Bob Charles brass goose neck putter used for his 1963 open win.
wilson is also huge into baseball/softball football and basketball. they make professional quality gloves and balls for baseball/softball and they are the official used balls in the NBA/WNBA the NFL and the NCAA
Good stuff. Bob Parsons screaming at me to try PXG immediately after the clip was just icing
I used to sell Howson/Hippo and Nicklaus golf equip across Europe our price point really helped increase the number of golfers in many Euro markets especially in France where i was based with some of the most amazing courses still undiscovered by many Brits
Funny story….I actually worked for the Lynx golf company about 1980-81. Carl Ross was the CEO and had made a name for himself working with Arnold Palmer. I got terminated and was lost because I never been fired before. My father was a fire chief and said what about a job in the fire service. I had no future plans so I pursued a job in the fire department. I just retired after 31 years in the fire service and loved my career. Lynx went under just a few years later, so the termination was the best thing that happened to me professionally . 😎😎
I still rep the tommy armour 845s titanium irons since getting them from my dad when I picked up the game a couple years ago and still use them now they are a great set of irons for being 20+ years old
Hey I use them too!
Honestly I cannot find any other iron that suits me better. Good feel to forgiveness to profile ratio
Played them for years, loved the clubs and the brand
My brothers and I have been the kiss of death to these brands. We took up golf in the 90s and 😅I played Top-Flite irons and my brothers had Maxfli and Power-Bilt clubs.
Yonex, used to be really high end.
My Dad was never above a 6 handicap and played Lynx , his driver head was a third the size of mine and he could still smoke it , often hit it off the deck in windy conditions, refused to buy new clubs as he said if you got a swing a branch of a tree will do you 😂 always taught me good swing with old clubs beats bad swing with shiny new set , ie spend the money on lessons first can always upgrade once you are swinging well .
I have a set of Daiwa Tryace irons from the 90's. Another company that seemingly stopped making golf gear - they now specialise in fishing gear. Ian Baker-Finch won the 1991 Open using Daiwa Advisor DG-273 blades and I believe Tiger also used them in the early 90's
First ever set was MacGregor irons and Powerbuilt wood woods, and a bullseye putter. My first new buy were Hogan edge. Wish I still had those. Also still have a set made by Head but currently playing a vintage set of Tommy Armour 845s Silver Scots that were given to me in brand new, never played condition.
Ram, remember Tom Watson pre open warm up at West Kent GC probably ‘85. Hitting 5 iron driver distance then popping it up like a lob wedge..
I have had a couple of sets of Wilson, i had the Ultras with Graphite shafts, irons were good woods were a bit whippy, moved to the steel shafts with the hybrids, pass them down to my son. Now have Taylormade Burners ,have the bubbleshafts, excellent for me, get good yardage, and straight, excellent clubs
Having played golf for over 56 years and pretty much tried everything, I still maintain the best feeling and most rewarding irons ever were my Srixon Pro 100’s, RAM Tour Grinds, Snake Eyes MB01 EV forged by Smith &Wesson and my current gamers Tour Edge CNC Milled forged from 2010. I honestly cannot pick one over another.
Not even my Mizuno MP32’s were as good as these.
If you ever get the chance to try any of them, please do. You will see what I mean.
Began with a half set of Pinseeker blades, then onto Pinseeker tour cavity backs(the ones with black cavity back). They just seemed to vanish.
I’ve got Adams clubs, iron and hybrids and an old TM 300 driver. Adams were also taken over by TM.
I have over two dozen sets of golf clubs. I conclude that regardless of what you use, the specs are the most important. Last week I played with a set of John Riley Matador irons and shot 76 with them at the local muni, beating guys who played with PXG's.
Never heard of Howson or Hippo - British brands? I remember on the old TV show Lost where they were hitting a set of Kennex Pro Pure clubs which is another one I hadn't heard of before. Then there's Shakespeare - famous for their fishing rods. I have an old set of their clubs with glass-wound shafts.
Your observation that Wilson and Titleist tried to ‘get into putters’ overlooks the period dominance of the Wilson blade and the Acushnet bullseye.
I was huge Fred Couples fan back in the 90’s so I got my Xmas bonus at work and immediately went out and bought a set of Lynx Black Cat irons…compared to my Ping knock offs I had the Black Cats were incredible. I played with those clubs for at least 15 years…
Some of these companies had clubs that bankrupted the company:
Lynk - Black Cat Irons >>> had a friend that worked customer service, they had to keep replacing sets when the rubber insert in the cavity kept falling out.
Tommy Armour - Ti100 full titanium iron, market disaster. Current TMaG rep worked for them at the end.
Cobra - King Cobra irons that kept breaking at hosel (company revived a couple of times since). Original rep became FJ rep.
Some devalued their brand by putting more focus in making clubs for Big Box department stores and never regained their profitable stride when they tried to jump back into high-end market...Wilson, MacGregor. Wilson tennis rep used to tell me that Wilson Golf loses every dollar the tennis side makes.
Others were driven under by continued litigation by Callaway (Orlimar, Adams). Told to me by Ortiz
Ah yes, the Lynx Boom Boom driver. It was huge when they had Fred Couples playing them. Same with Ashworth clothing repped by Freddy. I remember in the 90’s Wilson Ultra golf balls were huge.
A lot of the brands you mentioned were purchased by other companies and dissolved after the marketing runway ran out. Sales go as sponsorship goes. Nike entered the market for clubs and balls, had a revolutionary ball, and had the best player in the world playing it. Titleist, TaylorMade, Callaway all had a stock of popular players playing their clubs. If droves of tour players are playing a certain brand, why would we buy another brand if it wasn't significantly cheaper for the same quality? Buying golf gear is much more an emotional decision for most people than it is an evaluation of quality, especially these days where every company offers clubs in every category of player, as you mentioned.
there used to be Precept as well, i had a pretty good set of half blade from them.
My first set of clubs a set of Wilson Staffs and persimmon woods, I bought them at the Air Force Academy in 1969 for 304.$ those were the days 😁🏌
When I first wanted to get into Golf around 2013/14 the only clubs I could get was a full bag of Donnays from my uncle which I still use today. Over the past 3 years my interest to play more has increased (large part due to this channel) and I will obviously upgrade my clubs as mine are nearing 25 years old. Still, I don't think Donnay exist anymore
I started playing in the early 70’s. My first set was piece meal, but I remember I had a Northwestern driver. I would play found balls (still do really, as a 12 year old kid, hunting balls was a necessity but it became as fun as playing and it kind of stuck with me) but I remember if I had a choice I would play Spaulding Eagles (couldn’t cut one with a knife) or Club Specials by Acushnet. My first full set were Sam Snead Blue Ridge by Wilson. I salivated over the Titleist Acushnet irons, with the heal/toe weights but those were well beyond my means. Oh and the same with the Bulls Eye putter. I went in to Wilson Staff Clubs that I loved and when I bought my first set of Tommy Armour 845’s I thought I had made the big time.
I remember reading an article about PXG clubs and the guy said he was making high quality clubs for the elite golfer and the rich and he was not going to make cheaper clubs for the masses, i.e. high handicappers. I guess he saw the folly of that.
It's hard to keep a company profitable year after year catering to the 1%. Even the diehards slow down their buying eventually.
My first set of complete clubs were the Sterling Arnold Palmer Signature Series.
My First Fitted clubs were Mega Force Big Blast II's back in the early 2000's but now I can't find anything about the brand anywhere.
Hit Lynx irons at a golf show and they felt amazing. Great off the face and superb ball flight
Still playing my 23-24 year old Macgregor Tourney Tungsten MT irons (3-SW). Great set of irons.
Wilson also dominates the ball scene in Basketballs,Volleyball, and the baseball scene. So that’s amazing it’s not separate.
Working now in the golf business we've been fitting people with Callaway, Titleist, or Wilson irons. Anyone over like a 12 handicap has hit the Wilson Irons 10+ yards further than the other two.
I think Lynx was bought out by Golfsmith, who had a guy by the name of Tom Wishon at that time? He left and started his own company in the early 2000s. I had a full set of custom made Wishons that I played for about 12 years! Irons were very "Mizuno-like". He sold and retired in recent years. Too bad. I met him a couple of times. Very down to earth and an innovator in the golf fitting universe. Hope all is well, Tom, if you are watching for some reason!
I have wilson irons, D300, as someone who played a lot whennI was younger, now I'm older, slower and less flexible, these are amazing for me.
D200 with uniflex shafts are awesome. Decent sound, nice spin, awesome length. Works great for me (driver chs around 95mph)
Wilson were a huge name and had good products in most categories, from their Staff range through to their player endorsed ranges such as Sam Snead and Patty Berg. They made great bags and putters, their balls were decent too.
Where they went wrong was in chasing the dollar and losing touch with their heritage. They went solely after the "store-line" market thinking this was where the money lay, they didn't invest in the pro-line market and tragically became known as a budget brand.
Only now, after years of hard grind, are they regaining some respect for their top end clubs.
I found a set of Wilson Laura Baugh blades, beautiful clubs.
Used to have powerboat years ago. Decent clubs with big orange bag
I’ve recently switched to Wilson clubs, and even though they aren’t seen as sexy or cool, I always get asked what driver I’m using(Wilson Cortex) and my D9 irons I just got, but wow do they inspire confidence in every shot at the range. I think it’s fun being the guy that rocks a brand that most don’t. It’s fun turning heads with clubs that cost half as much as my friends clubs.
There are so many great, underrated, clubs and brands that people scoff at, but are easy to hit, play so consistently at a fraction of the cost of the new crap.
I think a major thing that you didn't really mention was companies purchasing other companies. Strata is now under the Callaway umbrella for example
Hippo were my first half set as a junior. They were a two in one set. 5/6 iron, 7/8 iron, 9/P. They did the trick!
I had an old Wilson 60 degree wedge, it was the club I was most effective with. I swapped it out for Vokey and took a huge step backwards with my chipping...
Before metal woods existed I had a set of PowerBilt persimmon woods which were awesome. Anyone remember those?
Used to have lynx wedges with rubber insert at the back, in the 1990s, they were best feeling wedges. I was so good with the 56 wedge. Called lynx black cat.
John Letters, I have a set of Trilogy graduated irons that have a cavity back style from 3 thru to 7 and the 8 to wedges are more bladed. Great clubs. Trevino, Player, Lawrie all played with John Letters.
Invented the Golden Goose Putter. Went out of business due to cheap far east imports.
I have Wilson D350 Irons (6-PW, GW), Launchpad (4-Iron), C300 (5-iron) , D7 Driver 3 wood & 5 wood) as well as a Wilson staff SW and Harmonized lob wedge. I love every club, Wilson is so underrated and has very forgiving clubs!
My first set of clubs were Ben Sayers Top Scot (second hand) and I had a brand new Macgregor bag…
Ben Sayers John Letters Nicoll o Leven, I was contracted to play Wilson Staff and they had Sam Snead for the beginners and Haig Ultra was an intermediate brand.
The answer is there are more brands than in the 60's, 70's, and 80's and those that are still at the top spent heavily on R & D and marketing that R & D. If anything Wilson/Slazenger/Dunlop lost out because they were producers of sportsgoods (Tennis/Cricket, general sporting apparel, etc) and they got overtaken by golf only companies.
I still haven't found a better fairway wood as my Sonartec SS 2.5 is. Feels and performs phenomenally.
My first clubs were the Tommy Armour 845s and I remember everyone talking about them.
My first full set when I was a junior were Spalding Rebels, then went full Lynx with the Black cat irons and woods - good clubs! I think Yonex are another brand who were big in the 90's but you never hear of in the golf world now
At the end you got it right. Wilson is not a golf company but a sporting goods company. They don't really care about golf per se. Just making as much revenue as possible. I used to have an office in the same building they were in in Chicago and got to know some of the executives. Golf was not their top priority for sure.
I golfed with my uncle some 30 years ago and he had just gotten some of the new at that time Tommy Armour irons which were huge and pricey…after 3 or 4 holes he was disgusted with them and went back to his Wilson Staff Pro Irons . He was a scratch golfer and man could he hit those Staffs beautifully.
Great content guys, always like to here your thoughts on what’s happening in the golf world. Keep up the good work.
I used to play Wilson Tour Blades & they were the purest, hardest to hit properly irons I've ever played.
Seduced by Cleveland and the gunmetal finish 😄
Rick you talk so much sense regarding brands
You do something different to your competition
You consider the value of the club and what the normal person can afford to spend!
Top work
Congratulations on 2 million scribes
Guys a pain in the arse drop him
Sorry
I look forward to the day seen on TH-cam you doing a video with Tiger Woods.
You deserve this for your hard work!!
Nike has captivated every market as well. Great clubs for awhile, great baseball gloves/bats, basketballs, footballs, wide receiver gloves, futbols and goalie gloves and of course apparel.
wilson Is like a all americian sports company and and always has been. they have been selling full sets of clubs in stores like K Mart and such for many decades so they haven't really changed any thing. Now some of the other companies that you mention went bankrupt or recievership and got bought of like Strata was part of spalding and it got sold for it's ball Patents and then someone else bought the topflite name also. Cleveland use to have a Great line of irons until they got bought out by Sirxon.
Rick - as always, some v interesting views. I would comment that you have already (a long time ago) covered the issue of a Company going south by trying to be all things to all people etc (Nike) - interestingly I don't recall you mentioning them on this slot? Also, I would say that Callaway seems to have cracked the "working the top and the bottom" markets well. They are both a top tour pro and a mug punter club and ball supplier but successfully manage to keep those 2 markets very separate!
I currently still use my Lynx set I got years ago. I have broke the head off my 3 wood and driver so I upgraded those. The irons are fine, I tell myself that I need to become a better golfer before upgrading.
Arnold Palmer was a set I used, along with Lynx and Dunlop even Wilson. They still to this day have some clubs that are pretty great for begginers.
Cleveland irons not just their wedges!
I played my first round of golf in May this year and got the bug. Had a quick look on the web for a quality package set and ended up with a set of Lynx Powertune, for just over £300 including bag. I have to say that they’ve been absolute quality in getting me going in the right direction. That said, I can’t wait to pick up my JPX921’s from a fitting, when they eventually arrive!!
Hogan forged cavity back irons, I loved those
I still play Callaway 460 driver, Adams knock off 3w, 5w. Ping ISI black dot irons, and an Odyssey 3 ball putter(half moon shape, it’s huge).
As a fan of John Daly my first full set was Dunlop LoCo (Driver thru Putter). I even used the LoCo balls. They are still in good condition. My wife even uses them when we go out for a round.
I have Wilson Staff wedges and I prefer them over anything else I've used. Didn't most of the "old" brands just get swallowed up but the bigger names?
The R&D involved im sure is staggering financially to stay at the top. Some companies just cant keep up and fold while others, like Wilson, stay with tennis, their bread and butter.
As far as wilson wedges, i would love to try, but im now a vokey lifer. I played taylormade tp wedges for yrs, their pro level wedges. I finally broke the mold and bought a vokey, simply unbelievable how much better they are. Whole different planet. While i plan on wilsons “staff model irons” in my testing for new irons this yr i can promise you one thing, give a vokey a fair shake and you’ll never touch your wilson wedges again. It took me hitting maybe 5 balls on the course to be a full believer. I replaced my 60 degree with a vokey 1 day later.
Wilson still make world class irons. Probably better than most brands. They just don't throw as much money as the bigger brands do to marketing.